Face the Dawn Again
by MinnieLover
Summary: Rachel finds comfort in an unexpected place


Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Friends!

"Yeah well, fine, Ross! I don't need you and your stupid jealousy anyway!  
I  
have had it!" Rachel dissolved into tears as she sank to the floor. "I  
have had it,"  
she mumbled again. Ross walked cautiously over to her, sank to the floor  
beside her, and  
wrapped his arms around her. Rachel was almost drawn into Ross's comfort,  
when she  
stood up abruptly and said steadily, "You know what, Ross? I can't do this  
anymore. I  
can't be around someone who isn't even happy for me when I get a job  
promotion! Just  
because some guy got the job for me?! Some random guy? You know what?  
Maybe he  
does like me! Maybe he's in love with me! But that never meant that I  
would've  
accepted his offer! God, Ross! You know what, you are so insecure! I  
can't even look at  
you right now! Goodbye!" Rachel stormed out of her and Monica's apartment, and blindly walked out into the hall. She leaned heavily against the wall, and fresh sobs  
escaped her. Ross walked out of the apartment, tentatively shutting the  
door behind him.  
"Rach-"he began. But Rachel cut him off with, "No, Ross. No.  
It's over."  
"What?!" Ross walked directly into her face, demanding an answer. Instead,  
she  
smacked him across the face and ran down the stairs.  
Ross glared toward the direction of the stairs before turning back to his  
sister's  
apartment. "Bitch" he mumbled before slamming the door.  
Rachel ran out of the building, not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom  
to turn to.  
Where was Monica? Where was anyone to comfort her now, when she needed it  
the  
most? She had been so stupid to listen to Ross all this time. She now  
wished they had  
never met. Not having anywhere else to go, she ran in the direction of  
Central Perk.  
  
Back at the girls' apartment, the door opened abruptly, interrupting Ross's  
thoughts. Joey had come in search of food. "Hey, Ross!" Joey greeted Ross  
with  
enthusiasm. Seeing the look Ross wore and the red mark across his face,  
Joey  
knew something was up. "What's the matter, Ross?" Ross glared at Joey for  
a  
minute, thinking how lucky Joey was to have such an easy life. "Nothing,  
Joey.  
Just don't even worry about it."  
Joey was reluctant to leave Ross, but didn't want to be in the face of his  
red-hot  
anger. He opened the door to his own apartment; where Chandler was busy  
watching Wheel of Fortune. "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS 'THE UNITED  
STATES OF 'PMERICA'! BUY A VOWEL, GENIUS!" Chandler screamed at  
their TV. "Hey Chandler, what's up with Ross?" "What do you mean, Jo?"  
Chandler asked, now interested in what Joey had to say. "Well, he seems  
pretty  
mad about something over there. You should see him" Joey replied.  
Chandler  
got out of his chair and made his way toward Monica and Rachel's apartment,  
  
mumbling "Well, I'm gonna." Chandler opened the door of the next-door  
apartment, and saw Ross sitting in one of the chairs, brooding. "Hey man,  
what's  
up? Joey said there was something weird going on." Ross paused,  
contemplating  
how to tell his best friend. He sighed and said flatly, "Rachel and I  
broke up."  
Chandler paused, frowning. "Wow, I...are you OK?" "Well, not really,  
Chandler. My girlfriend just slapped me across the face, and I'm alone.  
You  
figure it out," Ross snapped. "Where's Rachel?" was the next thing out of  
Chandler's mouth. "What?" Ross asked, annoyed. "Where's Rachel?" he  
repeated urgently. "Well, I don't know. She ran down the stairs about 20  
minutes  
ago and-" "Thanks man, I'll talk to you later" Chandler said, rushing out  
of the  
apartment. He hurried down the stairs, praying Rachel would be all right  
until he  
got to her. He rushed out of the building, looking around for her. Not  
seeing her,  
he rushed to Central Perk, figuring she might be there.  
Rachel sat alone in Central Perk, not drinking the cold coffee she held.  
All she  
wanted at that moment was someone to comfort her, someone to turn to. The  
door to Central Perk opened suddenly, and Chandler looked around wildly for  
  
Rachel. Not seeing her on his first glance of the coffeehouse, he rushed  
to the  
bar. "Is Rachel here? Is she here? Is she?" Chandler wildly asked Gunther.  
  
"Calm down, Chandler" Gunther advised. "She's on the couch, and she's  
pretty  
upset." "Thanks, Gunther." Chandler took a few deep breaths to calm  
himself.  
No reason to make her more upset, he told himself. Just act like you're  
here for  
some coffee. "Can I get a coffee?" he asked Gunther before making his way  
over  
to the couch. He walked slowly, so as not to surprise Rachel. He cleared  
his  
throat loudly and sat down at the small table. His efforts seemed to have  
worked,  
because Rachel's tears were gone, and all that was left was an air of  
despondency.  
"Oh Chandler, hi," Rachel said softly as she spotted him. "Oh hey, Rach.  
I didn't  
see ya." He paused to take his coffee from the waitress. "You look  
kinda...upset. Is everything OK?" he asked Rachel as nonchalantly as  
possible. "Oh.  
Well, everything's fine, I guess. It's just..." She sighed heavily before  
continuing. "Me  
and Ross broke up." "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you...I mean, are you gonna be OK?"  
  
Chandler asked with concern in his voice. "Yeah, I guess. I mean,  
eventually. After the  
shock wears off." Chandler noted the helplessness in her voice, and  
silently cursed Ross.  
He moved to the couch, bringing his coffee with him. "Hey look, Rach. I  
know it seems  
like Ross was the greatest guy you could ever ask for. But the truth is,  
there are a million  
better guys out there. And he's gonna really care about you. You're  
gonna find  
someone so much better, Rach. I promise." Rachel gave an odd look to  
Chandler. No  
jokes, no stupid comments. Was he really trying to make her feel better?  
Chandler? She  
studied his face. It seemed sweet and sincere enough. "Well...thanks,  
Chandler. That's  
sweet." She paused, and then said, "You know, you're the last person I'd  
expect to be  
saying all this. I mean, you're...Chandler." Chandler paused and said,  
"Thanks" with a  
strong note of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, no offense, sweety. It's  
just...you were never  
this...sweet and kind. You should bring out that side more often." Chandler  
smiled  
again and said, "Yeah well, I care about you, Rach. As he moved  
instinctively closer to  
her, he mumbled, "More than you'll ever know." "Hm?" Rachel mumbled. "Oh,  
  
nothing", Chandler replied. "Nothing at all." They paused for a moment  
before  
embracing each other. They both sighed contentedly, before breaking apart,  
ready to face  
the dawn again.  
A/N: Ok, I know this has been done a bunch of times and it's really  
clichéd. But please don't flame, cause it took about an hour to write.  
Ok, R & R please! 


End file.
